Abraham Lincoln High School (Los Angeles, California)

Abraham Lincoln High School, usually referred to simply as "Lincoln High School", is a secondary school located in the Lincoln Heights district of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the East Los Angeles-area community, surrounded by El Sereno, Chinatown, Boyle Heights and Cypress Park. The school is named after Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, and is one of the first public high schools established in California. It is one of the District 5 high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the nation.

Lincoln students are drawn from Lincoln Heights and other areas. Cypress Park residents may attend either Lincoln or Franklin high school.

History

Lincoln High School was opened in 1878 and moved its temporary quarters to the Avenue 21 School in 1913. Pending the construction of a new school (the current site) on the former mansion property of Charles Woolwine, the Avenue 21 intermediate school moved its location to the hillside site (now the current physical education and track field), where students studied under the trees. [http://www.stampstudio.com/earlyL.html] , [http://dbase1.lapl.org/webpics/calindex/cards/007/0614084-073.jpg]

In 1918, the plant was extended across Lincoln Park Avenue, which is now the current site. In 1921, the school added a gymnasium and a science building in 1924. The present school was built extensively in the 1930s under President Franklin D. Roosevelt under his Works Progress Administration reform. Much of the construction and renovations occurred after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which damaged the gymnasium, the auditorium, the music building, the library, and the English building. [http://www.laschools.org/employee/design/fs-studies-and-reports/download/LAUSD_Presentation_March_2002.pdf?version_id=1895945 (Power Point Presentation on historic architecture of many LAUSD schools- very large file)]

Central Region High School 15 will open in 2012 [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=56.40054] , relieving Lincoln of its overcrowding student population.

Location

Lincoln is located at 3501 North Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90031.

In the heart of Lincoln Heights, Lincoln High School occupies approximately four blocks, bordered by the intersection of N. Broadway and Thomas Street, Alta Street, and the hills of Lincoln Heights beyond. Since the school is located on the North Broadway strip, it is an ideal location for students to experience the local commerce and businesses.

The Los Angeles MTA runs one bus line near Lincoln, the 45, which stops at the intersection of N. Broadway & Thomas, at the intersection of N. Broadway & Lincoln Park Avenue, and at the intersection of Lincoln Park Avenue & Altura St.

Demographics

Lincoln is mainly made up of a large Hispanic and Asian student body, though there is also an even smaller African-American and Caucasian student population.

The racial ethnic enrollment [http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8729] breaks down as the following (as of the student class of 2006-2007):
* American Indian - 0.3%
* Asian - 14.8%
* Filipino - 0.3%
* Pacific Islander - 0.2%
* Black - 1.0%
* Hispanic - 82.9%
* White - 0.4%

Academics

Overview

In 2008, Lincoln is ranked as the 596^th best high school in the nation by "Newsweek"'s Jay Matthews' Challenge Index.cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?s=los+angeles|title=Challenge Index|accessdate=2007-05-06|publisher=Washington Post]

Advanced Placement Program

Lincoln prides itself as being one of the very few fully accredited secondary schools in Southern California to offer courses in almost every Advanced Placement exam. Most recently in the upcoming fall Lincoln is approving to add AP Psychology.

Students are accepted into the Advanced Placement Program and individual Advanced Placement classes based on faculty and counselor recommendations. A student may be admitted into an AP class by request or if the AP instructor has approved the request. These are the current courses offered by Lincoln:

* AP Government & Politics
* AP European History (offered to Freshmen and other grade levels)
* AP US History
* AP English Language & Composition
* AP English Literature & Composition
* AP Calculus AB
* AP Calculus BC
* AP Statistics
* AP Biology
* AP Chemistry
* AP Environmental Science
* AP Physics B
* AP Physics C (I)
* AP Psychology
* AP Spanish Language
* AP Chinese Language & Culture
* AP Studio Art: Drawing
* AP Macroeconomics
* AP Microeconomics
* AP Computer Science A

Magnet

Lincoln High School's Magnet [http://www.lhsmagnet.org/] program was established in 1999. The Magnet program has a maximum of 180 students, ranging from grade levels 9 to 12. The program offers various opportunities for students to participate in courses and activities with emphasis on science, math, and technology.

Academic Decathlon

Lincoln maintains an extensive Academic Decathlon program for its students. Competing students in the program are placed into either one of three teams based on their skill level: Varsity, Scholastic, and Honors. The program covers the following subjects: language & literature, economics, art, music, mathematics, social science, and science. In addition, students are also required to write essays, participate in interviews, give speeches, as well as taking part in a Super Quiz - which focuses on a selected subject determined by the United States Academic Decathlon each year.

Extracurricular Activities

Lincoln offers a wide range of extracurricular programs to its students to participate in outside of the normal classroom hours.cite web|url=http://www.abraham-lincoln-hs.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=82|title=Student Activities|accessdate=2007-05-07|publisher=Lincoln High School]

Some of its major extracurricular activities and clubs include:

* Varsity Cheerleaders
* Executive Office
* Girls Inc.
* Class Cheer
* Dancers
* Drill Team
* Tall Flags
* Academic Decathlon
* Advanced Placement (AP)
* Honors
* Agape Bible Club
* Asian Club
* California Scholarship Federation
* Creative Writing
* Grupo Cultural
* Humanitas
* Talent Search
* MESA
* Marching Band
* Railsplitter
* Robotics
* Science Bowl
* University Preparatory Program
* United Students
* Tennis Club
* Mecha
* Magnet Program
* Student Government
* Senior/Junior Class CabinetJunior R.O.T.C

Feeder Patterns

A majority of the students come from Florence Nightingale Middle School, El Sereno Middle School, and Mt. Gleason Middle School.

Abraham Lincoln High School has a competitive rivalry against Wilson High School.

Many graduating students often continue their post-secondary education at nearby community colleges such as Pasadena City College, East L.A. College, and Glendale Community College. A smaller portion of Lincoln graduates have been accepted to and attended the Cal State Universities, the University of California colleges such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Riverside, and private colleges such as Stanford, Harvey Mudd, USC, Pomona College, Yale, and the California Institute of Technology.Fact|date=April 2008

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Abraham Lincoln High School include:
* Gregory Ain, architect
* Gaylord Carter, organist
* Bobby Castillo, former Dodger pitcher
* John Huston, director/actor
* Carlos R. Moreno [http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/justices/moreno.htm] , California Supreme Court Justice (Cl. of 1966)
* Robert Preston, actor
* Robert Young, actor
* Sal Castro, activist (faculty)

Trivia

* Abraham Lincoln High School briefly appears in the end of the movie Walkout (film) (a real life video in the end credits).
* The Lincoln Heights (TV series) on ABC Family was filmed in the Lincoln Heights area.

References

* [http://www.nndb.com/edu/677/000079440/ Abraham Lincoln High School profile] provided by NNDB
* [http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=school.profile.content&which=8729 Abraham Lincoln High School profile] provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District

External links

* [http://abraham-lincoln-hs.org/mambo/ Abraham Lincoln High School website]
* [http://www.lhsmagnet.org/mambo/ Abraham Lincoln High School Magnet website]
* [http://www.stampstudio.com/earlyL.html Early History of Abraham Lincoln High School]